As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,874,776; 4,133,604; 4,541,696; and 4,696,566; the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse generally tubular eyeglass retainer devices.
While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, these previously patented retainer devices are uniformly deficient in the respect that they have failed to take into account the fact that many individuals are engaged in water related sport activities that not only conceivably, but quite often frequently, result in both the eyeglasses and the attached retainer device being consigned to the deep, and in those particular instances it is difficult, if not impossible to retrieve the eyeglasses and retainer even if the retainer itself is fabricated from material that has buoyant characteristics.
In addition, even in those instances wherein the materials from which the eyeglass retainers are fabricated do have a degree of buoyancy, the mass of material actually employed in the fabrication of the eyeglass retainers are not sufficient to overcome the weight of the eyeglasses to which the retainer is attached to maintain the retainer at, or near, the surface of the water. Obviously, this particular feature is of utmost importance when the surface of the water is rolled or the water is muddy or otherwise discolored.
As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need among the public in general, and water sport enthuslasts in particular, for a buoyant eyeglass retainer apparatus that will virtually insure that the eyeglasses and retainer can be retrieved under even normally adverse conditions, and the provision of such a construction is a stated objective of the present invention.